the only exception
by klrob
Summary: Danny Desai was the only exception.


_When I was younger, I saw my daddy cry and curse at the wind Broke his own heart and I watched as he tried to reassemble it_

When Lacey was younger, her father had made himself scarce. She remembered him leaving the house early and coming in when she was getting into bed. If he managed to stick around long enough to greet her in the mornings, she would be woken up by the sounds of her parents arguing over everything. How much Clara's gymnastics lessons cost, what dinner was that night, all the little things.

_And my momma swore that she would never let herself forget And that was the day that I promised I'd never sing of love if it does not exist_

The day Lacey's father left (she refused to refer to him as anything than Father. It made him seem less human less real less less less), she came home from school on her little four-year-old legs and found her mother crying on the couch.

Lacey hadn't wanted to be alone with her crying mother because she didn't know what to do, how to console her. Was she supposed to say it would be alright? Of course it wouldn't. Who was supposed to take out her and Clara for ice cream? Who would sing funny songs in the middle of making his (not so) World Famous chili? Who would be there to threaten all the boys who came to her house when she got older?

_But darling you are the only exception, you are the only exception, you are the only exception, you are the only exception._

Then little Danny Desai showed up in the neighborhood and all little Lacey could do was stare at him. His mom was really pretty and his dad seemed really nice. Danny would come over to her house all the time and he even offered to play dolls with her.

A couple years later, Danny had grown up and Lacey felt something, a yearning. She wanted to like him, but what if she chased him away like she chased away her father? Besides, Lacey could see that Jo liked him. She couldn't do that to her best friends.

But Aunt Tara happened, and Danny went away. Lacey had tried her hardest to not like him and she still chased him away!

_Maybe I know somewhere deep in my soul that love never lasts And we've got to find other ways to make it alone and keep a straight face_

Two years after Danny was put into juvie (it still felt weird to say. "My friend Danny is in juvie for killing his aunt" what other thirteen year old can say that?), Archie showed up. He had always been around but Lacey never really noticed him with Jo and Danny around. It was almost their last year of middle school and she caught him staring so many times already. He finally came up to her on the last day of school, and he asked her out. _Her_. Archie was the first boy she liked since—No. She couldn't. She had new friends now and a new life.

Lacey always saw Jo around school and wanted to invite her to the little seventh grade parties, but Sarita and Regina didn't like her. Jo was like the plague and Lacey didn't want to catch what Jo had. Lacey just had to avoid her. Besides, Archie was around more often than not, bringing her chocolate bars and flowers from his mother's garden.

_And I've always lived like this, keeping a comfortable distance Up until now I had sworn to myself that I'm content with loneliness because none of it was ever worth the risk_

Three more years later, and Lacey was still dating Archie. She wasn't really _into_ him, but he was sweet. He treated her like a princess and protected her. Lacey liked him, she really did, but he wasn't Danny. (She could finally say his name without crying without thinking of the body the body that was flung across the floor like it was fake but it wasn't it definitely wasn't)

Danny was coming back to school tomorrow. Lacey had been getting letters from him, seen pictures of him all grown up (17 is pretty grown up) and she wasn't sure what to think anymore. She had been waiting for this day, to decide what she thought of him now. Danny must've changed in juvie, maybe she wouldn't like him so much anymore.

_Well you are the only exception, you are the only exception, you are the only exception, you are the only exception_

Danny was back in school for three days. Three days and she almost broke. She had to remember Archie and Regina and Sarita and even Phoebe and the people she could probably consider her friends. Danny was a part of her past and she needs to focus on her future. She couldn't get caught staring at him, admiring his hair, or thinking about him... She really couldn't. Danny needed to stop being so nice first and making her reconsider.

_I've got a tight grip on reality but I can't let go of what's in front of me here I know you're leaving in the morning when you wake up Leave me with some kind of proof it's not a dream woah_

She ended up with him in the end. Lacey tried her hardest to avoid him, but she couldn't. Danny appeared literally everywhere. And then Fall Fest... She had gotten upset but she wasn't. Not really. Feeling his hands on her, his lips on her, it was too much. It was all she had ever wanted since they were little (well, not that exactly) and now she couldn't get enough.

_You are the only exception, you are the only exception, you are the only exception, you are the only exception, you are the only exception, you are the only exception, you are the only exception, you are the only exception_

There were some days. Some days when Lacey would just look at Danny when he didn't notice and wonder about what they could become. Lacey didn't want to have a husband, she couldn't be like her mother. She didn't want to end up chasing Danny off after doing a bunch of stupid things and end up crying on the couch with two little kids. But Danny was better than that, wasn't he? He came back and he wanted her. He had to be better than her father, who she's heard from a total of 8 times in the past 13 years. Danny was most definitely better. He was trying, even through the murder accusations and all of the secrets, he was trying oh so hard.

She was going to do it. Lacey Porter was going to become serious about her relationship. If she didn't try, who knows what would happen. And Lacey knew she loved Danny, more than anyone else in the world. He was better than Archie, better than her _father_. She would just have to wait and see what happened.

_And I'm on my way to believing. Oh and I'm on my way to believing._


End file.
